


Red Like Roses

by Gravity_Piglet



Series: Red Like Roses [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M, Pirate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-05-23 15:17:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6120654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gravity_Piglet/pseuds/Gravity_Piglet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ruby has always wanted to hunt pirates. After all her mother had been a pirate but she had sacrificed herself to let her girl live in a world not overwhelmed by them. But the Roses have a special power, something that scares all the pirates. Ruby is captured and the pirate king puts her under the protection of his son, Roman Torchwick.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Drowning

Ruby gazed at the racks of items at the dust shop, the rickety boat swaying slightly as new customers boarded. The young girl was intent on the weapon magazines and the music playing in her ears, so she didn't notice the suspicious people step aboard the vessel. At the front of the store a man in a white peacoat entered behind his men. He nodded to the men and they raised their guns at the shop keeper. The terrified man surrendered and told the pirates they could have the money. "Not the money, the dust, put it in the bag and no one will get hurt," he turned his attention to one of the men as the owner began filling the bag.

"See if there is anyone in the back," the man strolled toward the back of the barge.

Seeing the girl in red the pirate tried to get her attention. Totally oblivious to the crime now under way Ruby continues listening to her music not noticing the angered pirate standing beside her. "HEY, listen to me!" the man grabs her shoulder and she finally notices him.

Ruby removes her headphones and asks politely "do you need something.”

"Yeah," the man replies "put your hands up."

"Are you," Ruby looks quizzically at the man, "robbing me?"

-

Torchwick looks up from the bag of dust as the pirate flies through the window of the boat into the wide open blue. The girl bursts out of behind the shelves her scythe swinging at the pirates. She quickly disables all of the lesser seaman, knocking them out on the deck of the dust shop. Her body moving between them. The man in white grabs the bag of dust and sighs, "Guess I have to do everything myself," he mutters.

The orange haired pirate hits the dust shop owner in the head and as the girl rushes over to help him Torchwick vanishes out the door of the ship and onto the docks. "Are you going to be okay if I go after him?" the dust shop man nods at Ruby's question and she darts out the open door.

As Roman runs he skids to a stop as the red caped girl appears in front of him. He raises his cane and points it at the girl, "End of the line Red."

The girl turns her head wondering what the pirate is going to do with only a cane when the tip pops off and she looks down the barrel of a gun. The pirate grins but the girl dashes out of the way as he shoots. As the smoke clears Ruby looks around for the criminal but can't see him until she finally looks up. The pirate is climbing up a cliff like it was rigging and Ruby quickly followed after him. When she reached the top he was standing and looking over the edge of the cliff. "Hey!" she called and he glanced back at her, his eyebrows raising as he saw the pirate huntress standing behind her.

The woman raised her gun and shot at Torchwick but he jumped from the edge of the cliff into the cold ocean below. Ruby and the huntress rushed over to the edge of the cliff and glanced down, there bayed in a little cove under the cliff was a medium sized pirate ship, probably stolen. Ruby raised her scythe and changed it into rifle form, shooting the ship multiple times, the woman besides her doing the same thing. Torchwick climbed aboard the boat and yelled something, then the cannons began firing at the two females standing on the cliff. Sensing the unstable platform from her years at sea Ruby grabbed the huntress and retreated, just as the platform they had been standing on fell into the sea and the pirates sailed away.

-

Ruby sat at the steel table, the huntress pacing in front of her. "What were you thinking, you put yourself and others in great danger. If it were up to me, Id send you home with a pat on the back and slap on the wrist."

Ruby flinched as the woman slapped the table in front of her with her whip. "But that's not my decision and there is someone here who would like to meet you."

A white haired bespectibled man strode inside the room carrying a cup of coffee and a plate of cakes. "Ruby Rose," he leaned close to her, "you... have silver eyes."

Ruby just looks at the man funny, "sooo? you have brown eyes, and she has reaaaallllyyy green eyes."

Ozpin just looked at the girl, "where did you learn to fight like that?" he asked.

"Well, I go to signal academy, but mostly I just taught myself," she replied proudly.

"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed!" he voiced.

"I just said that, yes, one teacher did help me."

"I see" the man lowered the plate full of cakes to the table and Ruby stared at them for a second, then she began shoving them in her mouth.

"It's just that I've only ever seen one scythe wielder of that skill before, a dusty old Qrow," the man said thinking back on his past experiences.

Ruby swallowed the cakes, a few crumbs spilling out of her mouth. "That's my uncle, Qrow, he's a drunkard teacher at Signal, I was pretty garbage at sea fights but he totally helped me out even more and now i'm pretty confidant on the ocean."

"So i've noticed," he paused, "so what is an adorable girl, such as yourself doing at a school designed to train pirate hunters?"

"Well, I want to be a pirate huntress"

"You want to slay thieves and pirates"

"Yeah! I'm almost done at signal and then i'm applying to Beacon. My sister is graduating this year, and she's trying to be a pirate huntress as well as myself, because I want to kill pirates, because pirates are evil and horrible and you guys stop them, you know."

The huntress and the man in front of her just stared as her bemusingly as she talked then he asked, "Do you know who I am?"

"Sure, your professor Ozpin, the headmaster at beacon."

"Do you want to come to my school Ruby Rose"

"I want to defeat pirates more than anything, so yeah."

Ozpin looked at the huntress and she shrugged her shoulders, then he looked back at the girl with silver eyes. "Well okay."

-time skip- 1 week later

"I can't believe my little sister is coming to the greatest ocean school of all time with me!" Yang called out as she crushed Ruby in a suffocating hug.

"This is the best day ever!" she said and Ruby struggled to breath under her crushing grip.

"please stop" Ruby breathed out and Yang finally let go of the poor girl.

"But I'm so proud of you!"

"Really sis, it wasn't that amazing. I didn't even stop the bad guys."

'What do you mean it was nothing! It was incredible! Everyone at beacon is going to think you're the bee's knees!"

"Look, I don't want to be the bee's knees. I don't want to be any kind of knees. I just want to be a great huntress with normal knees."

"What's with you aren't you excited?"

"of course i'm exiti..." Ruby was interrupted by the sound of cannons firing and splintering wood.

"pirates" she muttered under her breath. Ruby opened her scythe and zoomed up the stairs to the poop deck (hahahaha i said poop, and yes I am 5 thank you very much).

Pirates had begun boarding the ship carrying the new students to beacon, after all if you kill the people who were going to become pirate hunters you were safer as a pirate. Ruby screamed and lauched herself at the pirates and laughed as she dodged their attacks. She landed many of her own hits but she was tiring. She wasn't used to fighting this many enemies. They were coming from all sides. She took down a lot of them but then she saw they had brought the other passengers up from the inner workings of the ship. The other pirates were getting ready to execute her sister and Ruby couldn't stand to watch another of her family die to pirates, so she screamed, so she threw her weapon across the wood and she screamed. "I am the daughter of Summer Rose, and I call parlay."

The pirates froze, unsure if the girl was telling the truth. She was a great fighter, and she seemed remarkably fast, but that didn't mean she was telling the truth. One of the other passengers, a busty blond chick called out, "No, Ruby! She did that for a reason! Don't let it go to waste."

A filthy pirate by the name of McScree called out after her, "Let her do the trial of blood! Then we shall know if she is the true daughter of Summer Rose."

One of the pirate shoved Ruby toward the edge of the ship, "if the water turns red like blood then we know she is who she says."

The pirates began chanting, "Red like Roses, red like blood, red like Roses, red like blood."

Over the chanting of the men Ruby shouted to her sister, "I'm not," then she smiled and nodded at Yang.

Ruby fell backward into the water, sprays of seawater splashing everywhere. Her body drifted deep down until it couldn't be seen anymore. Where she had fallen the water had started turning red, the waves rippled and it looked like a rose on the surface of the water. Tendrils of red spread upward toward the surface of the water and the pirates all gasped, realizing who the girl was. They began conversing among themselves of what they were going to do when Yang called out, "My sister's still down there, are you just going to let her die?!?"

The pirates leaned back over the railing and sure enough the girl hadn't yet surfaced. "What do we do? "The boss'll kill us!" "I blame Larry." "Someone one save her," Yang's voice echoed over the voices of all the other men, but they just looked back at her.

"Are you also the daughter of Summer Rose? You did say that Ruby girl was your sister."

"No! We're only half sisters. We have a different mother."

The pirates just sighed and walked back over to the edge of the ship. "Who's going to save her?"

"I'm not, but I volunteer McScree, he's the one that went and come up with the trial."

"No way, she the one who went and couldn't swim"

From over the childish squabbling they heard the faint splash as Ruby resurfaced. Her hair was drenched and looked red because of the red water that surrounded her. The men reached down to help the girl up into the boat, but Ruby refused. "If you don't promise me you won't hurt any of the people on the ship then I will stay in the water and turn the whole ocean red. And none of you will ever be able to sail again."

The pirates looked at each other's panicked faces and McScree said, "It's not our chose to make, Rose," he glared at the girl.

"Shut up McScree," they all shouted, "We'll agree to your deal, just get out of the water."

Ruby climbed out of the water and you could hear some of the pirates crying and saying, "our beautiful blue sea, please be blue for us forever."

"I assume my Parlay still stands," Ruby asked, and as the pirates lead her onto their boat, she looked back and gave her sister a sad smile.

Yang looked away from her amazing sister and got throw up on her shoes. "Oh my gosh, BARF BOY!!!! We were having a moment. Geez what is even wrong with you? We are going to be pirate hunters and you can't even handle a boat."

Ruby laughed and she laughed and she laughed and she laughed so hard she fell over and the pirates had to carry her onto the boat, but Yang was glad that the last she had seen of her sister, was a laughing face and not a sad smile. She turned to scream at barf boy some more.

To be continued....


	2. Burning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby is tried at the pirate court, they find her guilty, how can she escape this dangerous situation.

The pirates shoved Ruby aboard the pristine vessel and handed her off to be brought to the captain. All of the men scurried away, afraid of their volatile captain, Grey. The ship owner paced as the small soaked girl was thrown in front of him. He scowled as he saw her face and immediately recognized her as Summer's daughter. Summer Rose had been like an older sister to the captain and when she betrayed them all to start a family his heart had grown cold and barren. Grey had taken out his anger on the rest of the world. And now lying on the floor in front of him bound with rope was the reason for his distress. "Leave mates, I'd like to speak to her," his voice echoed with uncharchteristical coldness.  
"You are not going to punish us Captain, for sparing the crew, just to get her to come with us," McScree asked the ridged man.  
"No, should I?" The captain turned his head to the pirates and looked at them questioningly.  
Because they were used to his loud and ferocious manner this quit soft spoken captain was terrifying to them, they knew he was planning something truly horrid. The filthy men backed away from the captain quarters to go tell their mates the events of the raid. Grey gazed at the fallen girl and cocked his head to the side, "when are you going to quit pretending to be passed out, daughter of Summer Rose."  
"How do you know me?" Ruby sat up as she asked her question and stepped closer to the captain.  
"I know that you, dear girl, are the reason Summer-nee left us, I know that it is for you that she died and it is your fault she is gone." Grey clenched his teeth and glared at the girl who was now standing in front of him.  
"Ohh, so you knew my mother," the girl smiled at the angry captain, "that's so nice! Are you going to kill me now then?"  
The captain grinned again regaining control of himself. Then he picked the trainee pirate huntress up by her hood and carried her to the brig. "Not quite yet kid," the man licked his lips, "there are more people than me who hate you. Rose would want you to have a proper pirate trial, and so a trial you will have."  
Captain Grey walked away from Ruby and she collapsed on the ground. At least Yang was okay and not caught up in all of this. For the rest of the ride Ruby tried to get the pirates on guard to let her out but most of them just jeered and spit at her, saying "Daughter of Summer Rose, haha, we'll pay you back." Some of them kicked her when she got too close to the bars so she couldn't even try filing her way out. Soon enough she felt the ship bang against the docks of the pirate city and weigh anchor. After some time the pirates surrounded her and shoved her up into the sunlight. Ruby blinked, her eyes adjusting to the intense light. A throng of people stood outside the ship waiting for her to come down. As the pirates shoved her onto shore and pushed aside the land bound pirates she felt their anger in her bones. Almost all of them screamed at her or spit, some even threw their alcohol. "Kill her, let me kill her," a voice from the audience called and most of the audience called out their agreement. Captain Grey appeared from behind her and glared at the people gathered, they silenced under his cold gaze. "Do not kill her now, doesn't she deserve a good old fashioned pirate trial. After all she is the daughter of Summer Rose!"  
The whole attitude of the people changed and they began cheering, they walked along with Ruby until they reached the town square and she was shoved up to the stage. A man behind her cleared his throat and the gathered crowd quieted as much as pirates could get quiet. "One Ruby Rose, daughter of Summer Rose, stands here on trial today at the pirate court. Her crimes committed against pirate kind are as follows, the betrayal against us instigated by her mother, the curse that is in her blood, and her being the reason dear summer betrayed us all. What say you all?"  
The crowd of pirates all called out in disjointed voices, "Guilty!" someone even yelled, "just burn her already!"  
"According to your crimes, we, the pirate court, find you, Ruby Rose, guilty! Ready the flame!"  
As the many pirates covered a pile of wood with burnable substances the crowd began chanting, "Red like roses, red like blood!" As they brought Ruby to the pile of wood a clear female voice rang out singing against Ruby, the rest of the pirates still chanting. The song went something like this:  
"red like Roses  
red like blood  
red like Roses  
good as rum  
she betrayed us  
now she's gone  
red like Roses  
red like blood  
her daughter's here  
to make us run  
red like Roses  
red like blood  
the water's red  
a pirates home  
red like Roses  
red like blood  
red like Roses  
red like blood  
red like Ruby  
red like rust  
red the blood  
that betrayed us  
red like Ruby  
red like Ruby  
red like Ruby's blood"  
At the end of the song Ruby had alcohol splashed all over her clothes and she was pretty scared she actually might die. Someone lit a match and was about to light the pillar on fire when a clear angry voice echoed over the group of pirates. "What the hell do you think you are doing imbeciles? If you kill her the curse will come back ten-fold! I don't care how angry you are, you're going to doom us all if you kill her!" The pirates began talking amongst themselves, arguing and doubting themselves. The person who ahd spoken up appeared behind Ruby and began untying her bounds. "My name is Junior, come with me," he pulled her after him into the groups of people.  
"Hey! Where are you taking my prisoner?" Captain Grey called out from atop the stage.  
"To the pirate king, take it up with him if you want her back!"  
Ruby followed the mysterious suited man into a mansion like ship behind the town. "Thank you for saving me," Ruby told the man but he just laughed. "I didn't do it for you, what I said is true. And if there are no more pirates I won't have any more customers."  
They reached the door to the captain's quarters on the ship and Junior swung the door open. Inside there sat a middle aged man cleaning a cutlass. "What do you want Junior," the man growled. "This is the daughter of Summer Rose," the man sat up straight, immediately on guard, "the idiots in town were about to kill her." The king stepped forward and smiled, "Neo!" he called, and a girl came in through one of the side doors. "Get this girl's weapon from whoever has it, I don't care who you pretend to be, and get Torchwick and tell him to come her immediately. You can hurt him if he refuses." The girl nodded and ran off to do as he asked and the king turned to face Ruby again, "you can relax you know. No one smart will hurt you here." Ruby plucked down into a chair and sniffed herself, "do you have a bath, I feel disgusting." The man chuckled, "we're pirates. You could go swimming, but I'm pretty sure everyone would try to kill you again." Ruby scoffed and glared at the pirate king, "why are being nice to me?" The man started laughing uncontrollably and the red haired girl just narrowed her eyes, once he stopped laughing he started to speak, "I was once only a lowly captain, pillaging, stealing, kidnapping, the whole deal. I only became pirate king because I had a good friend who helped me to get there, your mother. I respected her a lot, I pretty sure she actually would have been a better king than me. So when she left to start a family and abandoned the pirate way of life I always respected her, however many didn't feel the same way. They attacked her, trying to force her to come back but that just angered her further. And Summer was not someone you want to anger. That was when she placed the curse on us, "if ever a true rose falls into the water for a long time the water will turn red like blood and no pirate will be able to sail ever again" she also said that if a pirate kills a rose or if she dies while out at sea, the same thing shall happen. So when Junior came here saying that the idiots outside were about to kill you, I was quite intrigued after all -----" The king was interrupted by the slamming of the door behind Ruby.  
She turned to face the intruder and was surprised to find the same man she had chased after at the dust shop standing in front of her. He stalked past her and didn't even look at her, "what the hell king! What do you want so bad that I had to come right away?"  
The orange haired man slammed his hand on the table and the pirate king raised an eyebrow at the criminal and nodded towards Ruby. Torchwick turned to face her and finally realized who she was, "You're the brat from the dust shop."  
"You're the only pirate I've hunted who's got away," Ruby smiled prettily and Torchwick turned back to face the King.  
"Why is a pirate huntress in your ship, pops!?!"  
"Ah! I see you've already become acquainted, that makes this so much easier. Roman, this Ruby Rose. It seems that the idiots outside don't know that if you kill her you doom us all. So, dear son, you will be guarding her---"  
"WHAT!!!!!!!" Ruby and Torchwick shrieked at the king in surprise and anger, then they both started clambering to get their voice heard by the leader of the pirates.  
After a few noise filled moments Neo entered the room carrying Crescent Rose and the king nodded at her. She stepped forward and handed the weapon to him. When Ruby finally saw the weapon in the king's hands she was silenced, Roman, curious about the girl's reaction to the oversized weed cutter also quit yelling. "Good. You quieted down, I was afraid I might have to get violent," the man sighed and began swinging the scythe about lazily.  
"Well you see, Ruby. Your mother was not only a good friend of mine, but she was also a very good rival," he grinned, "so you see, I can't just let you go, after all, I should repay her for all the horrible things she did to me as well."  
The king turned to Roman now and kept swinging the scythe, "you dear boy, I think you know why I'm punishing you." The father clucked his tongue and slammed Ruby's scythe to the ground, his gaze intense. "You disobeyed a direct order and did a job for a siren, why did you ask for permission if you were going to disobey anyway! So for your sins I'm giving you the job of babysitting mini Rose here. Oh, and there's no repercussion if you take her, know what I mean."  
Torchwick clenched his teeth together and looked like he was going to say something but decided not to and just nodded. Ruby though, had no idea what the king looked like when he was angry so she said, "hey! Stop messing around with crescent rose, I'll kill----"  
Torchwick put a hand over her mouth and she bit down hard on the soft flesh there, however he kept his hand over her mouth, barely even registering the pain. "Good boy! It looks like you understand me, you better keep her under control. Oh, and she's to stay in your quarters so you can keep a very close eye on her," the man grinned and sat back in his chair, glancing at the girl who was still biting his son's hand.  
Ruby glared at the underworld king and stopped biting Torchwick's hand, choosing instead to lick it, so he would let go. She was surprised when his skin didn't taste like grim and alcohol just fire and salt. Torchwick sighed and grinned back at his father, "No problem with me, no problem at all old bastard."  
Roman shoved Ruby out of the cabin and off the ship before he took his hand off her mouth. Ruby muttered under her breath, "freaken pirates," then she shut her mouth and followed after Torchwick into town people pressing in on her from all sides. Drunks and prostitutes running around in the streets and pirates having good natured brawls and bad natured ones. She ducked as a man came flying over her head. Finally she asked Torchwick the question she had been wondering since the conversation at the ship, "Why do you listen to your father? Why does anyone? I thought pirates could overthrow captains they weren't satisfied with."  
Torchwick turned to face Ruby and raised an eyebrow, "No, because the king is the most powerful, people challenge him all the time, and lose. Even if I challenged him he would surely win"  
"Why don't you just get crescent rose for me and I'll defeat him," Ruby said as if it were the most obvious thing in."  
Torchwick pulled Ruby into an alley and shoved her against a wall, melodic cudgel pressed against her throat. His face came close to her, so close she could feel his breath on her cheek, "Just because I want to rebel against my father doesn't mean I will aid the daughter of a deserter in her quest to kill all pirates."  
Ruby felt her face light up red and she felt as if she was in the fire the pirates had threatened her with earlier, "why do you judge me for things my mother did? I thought you would know how it feels to be judged for your parents mistakes." She turned her face away from the man's and pouted a little.  
Torchwick grabbed her face with one hand and made her gaze meet with his. "I am not doing this because you are a 'pirate's enemy', in fact I couldn't care less about that. I'm doing this because you got in my way. And NO ONE gets in my way and comes away from the encounter unscathed, especially a seventeen year old girl."  
Ruby nodded and Roman finally let go of her chin and she mumbled under her breath, "I'm fifteen."

Torchwick finally allowed the girl to follow after him until they reached the ship he was captain of. There it stood, swaying slightly in the breeze, the Smoldering Ember, it's tall sails stretched toward the sky and the majestic beauty stood apart from the other ships. Each sail made from the finest of fibers, stolen from a cargo ship from India, the planks coated with resin secreted by trees in the east Amazon Rainforest, heisted from a private yacht of the coast of Belize. The mast head, had been skillfully carved from Black Walnut wood, it was in the shape of a dark beast roaring out in anger. Ruby had no idea however, that the carving was a beast she fought constantly in her original dimension, the carving was of a Grimm. She stood and stared at the impressive ship, although it did look sort of mismatched, the ship overall was of the highest quality. Torchwick shoved her, jarring her out of her amazed stupor, "welcome to your new home, Red."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and giving me so many kudos, I love you all. Thank you for your support and I hope you comment so you can give me ideas and edits, after all I am not the best writer. I'm so excited to see what happens next, aren't you. XD  
> Gravity_Piglet out.


	3. Falling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter, however I am thinking of making this a series. Give me your thoughts. GIVE THEM TO ME!!!!! Oh sorry, got a little too excited because of how awesome this chapter is, as well is how awesome my editor is. Please everyone thank my second editor QueenDarkCloud, give her a round of applause, no really. Do it. Even if your in the library do it right now. Anyway, on to the story. XD Gravity_Piglet out.

The door clicked shut as Roman stepped out, leaving Ruby standing in awe behind him. She heard the deadbolt lock into place and she finally shook off her stupor. Ruby silently screamed, "This is such an amazing ship!" then caught herself. "They're pirates, I can't admire anything of theirs." After thoroughly scolding herself she began exploring the cabin. In one corner of the room sat a large chest, which when checked proved to be locked. On the right side of the room was a large bed, surprisingly springy and easy to jump on (Ruby tried it). Above the bed she saw two framed papers, one, read across the top "Captain's Code." Scanning her eyes through the paper Ruby found nothing of interest and turned her attention to the second framed document. Ruby's breath caught in her throat. It was a death certificate. Gilded letters spelled out the cause of the woman's death, "death by childbirth." The name above the cause of death spelled out, "Spark Torchwick." Ruby rolled over onto the bed, "So his mom is dead too, we have at least one thing in common." Instead of continuing to search the room Ruby just curled up into the blankets realizing just before she drifted into the abyss that this was Torchwick's room.

"Captain Torchwick! Captain Torchwick!"

"Huh?" Ruby blinked her eyes and stared at the door, she rubbed her red orbs and yawned.

Captain Torchwick! Ca..." the yelling outside the room stopped as well as the pounding on the door, and Ruby heard Roman's voice.

"As you can see Corey I am not inside my cabin, so stop being a mermaid and tell me what it is you want," Ruby could hear the steel in his voice and shivered, glad she wasn't the one getting scolded, after all he sounded a bit like her uncle Qrow.

"Captain! We've managed to sell the recent merchandise, I just wanted to see if I should do the usual thing with your share."

Torchwick was silent for a bit and Ruby wondered if he was nodding, then she heard him make the crew member scamper away. The door unlocked and Ruby pulled the blankets up to herself, she had no weapon, she was not in the advantage in the slightest, besides the fact she had learned something new about the criminal that made her hate him just a little bit less. The door creaked open and Torchwick stepped into the room. He shut the door quickly and didn't seem to remember Ruby. He threw his hat on the chest and leaned Melodic Cudgel against the wall. He sighed and kicked his boots off, then shrugged off his white jacket. He sat on the bed and finally sensed the girl's staring eyes. "Ah great, Red's looked around," he sighed again, "ask away."

Ruby waited for a second, trying to determine if he was laying a trap to catch her. "Was she your mother?"

"What do you think?"

"Why did she die giving birth to you, I thought births were safe these days."

Roman rolled his eyes, "Not when you're in prison for association with pirates, in fact the only reason I exist is that there is a law that pregnant women cannot be hung, so she met my father in prison and here I am."

Ruby looked like she was going to cry, her chin quivered and her eyes increased in size. "Don't look like that, she would have been killed anyway. To protect her friend. Anything to keep the great Summer Rose alive and pirating, laughing and ruling."

Torchwick crawled across the bed and leaned over the terrified girl, on the verge of tears. It took only three words, whispered into a heated ear, to turn the spigot on. "Not for you."

Tears poured from Ruby's eyes and she felt the stress of the past two days finally seeping in. She cried for Spark and for her little baby who grew up to be a ruthless man. She cried for her mother and her death, she cried for herself and for all the things she couldn't be. Tears streamed down her face and in the midst of it all, she barely recognized Roman climbing under the blankets and wiping the tears off her face. She cried for Yang and her missing mom, for her uncle Qrow and his sorry drunk butt. But mostly she cried because Roman was right. Everything up until now had been for her mother, for Summer Rose. The hate, the protection, the sacrifice of an innocent woman. No one did anything for Ruby, just Ruby. So she cried and cried and cried, and Torchwick sat next to her, sort of grinning, sort of glowering and sort of comforting her till she drifted to darkness.

The next morning Ruby was confused when she awoke to empty sheets. She sat up quickly and saw Torchwick pulling his coat on, about to grab his cane. He glanced back at Ruby and saw her rub her red puffy eyes. The pirate approached the bed and sat on the edge of it. He appraised her, looking her up and down as one looks at a prized stallion before buying it. Finally he spoke, "Your clothes are disgusting, one of my men will bring you something to wear. Meanwhile take a bath, I know pirates are said not to take many baths but I really don't think you are a pirate, dear."

Ruby looked down and blushed, then scolded herself for blushing at a pirate. But then she caught herself, "Not all pirates are bad. He isn't my enemy, none of these people are, they have nothing to me to make me hate them, so why should I." Ruby thought and nodded at the Captain. When she looked up again the man was slamming the door behind him. She heard his loud voice ordering the other pirates around deck. After a few minutes two pirates entered carrying a large bath tub with scalding water inside. They set it in front of her and laughed as they asked if she needed any help washing her back. She clenched her teeth and replied, "No, and get out."

The taller and more scraggy looking one with an eyepatch smiled kindly, "Ahh, miss, we was joking, everyone knows that we ain't ta touch ya. Captain would lash us and restrict rum rations for a month."

Ruby blushed for the second time that morning and the pirates left the room quietly shutting the door behind them. Why would did the other pirates think that Torchwick would punish them if they did something to Ruby? Why was her heart beating so fast when she thought of him? Ruby put the thought out of her mind and got into the hot water to scrub the grime and dirt off her body. When she finished she remembered she had nothing to wear, her other clothes were torn, dirty and burned. She tried opening the chest again and was surprised to find it was unlocked. She pulled out from the wooden chest a pair of breeches and a flowy white shirt that was probably stolen. She also found a pair of boots and a tricorn hat. Seeing that her corset was mostly undamaged she donned that as well. Ruby looked at herself in the mirror, it wasn't something she would normally wear but it would have to do. When she was done she approached the door and tried to open it, unsurprisingly she found it locked but she could see a pair of shoes beneath the crack. She knocked on the door and called out, "I'm done!"

It took a few seconds but eventually the two pirates who had set the tub down entered and removed it, however they left it open and Torchwick walked in after they left the room. "Ah, I see you've found clothes, they look good on you. Since you now have working clothes and are all rested up you will begin working."

"What! I will not work for a pirate," Ruby exclaimed after blushing because of his compliment.

"Look Red. Even if you were the king of the seas you couldn't get away with living on my ship without working. This is piracy darling, and if you don't work, you don't get to eat."

Ruby clenched her teeth and nodded, still unsure if her mother would have wanted this for her. After long contemplation she banished the thought, her mother no longer lived, it was time for her to make her own decision. Roman motioned for the girl to follow him onto the deck, "What can you do on a ship? I need to assign you a job. And don't say you can fight because I am not giving you that much freedom."

And so Ruby was given a shift on the crow's nest and in the cook's area. She worked diligently even though she still detested the pirates around her. Regarding their thoughts on her, half hated her, or ignored her. Those were the few that had been alive when Summer Rose roamed the high seas. The other half often teased her or even respected her, however all on the ship knew what would happen to those who hurt the small girl. A week passed and Ruby began to start to get used to the stares of passing pirates. She had been staying in Torchwick's cabin for the entirety of her stay and had actually started to get to know him. The Smoldering Ember set sail, her repairs down. Ruby admired the way the ship sliced through the water and the crew worked in harmony so the ship hummed. Ruby stood in the crow's nest, her eyes on the horizon, scanning the water for foreign ships. She was surprised when Roman slide in next to her and rested his arms on the side of the crow's nest. Ruby broke the silence saying, "She's beautiful, even I can see that. The Ember I mean."

Roman puffed smoke out of his mouth, "Aye, that she is."

They stood in silence for some time, enjoying the spray of waves and the swift movement of the ship. Ruby kept a weathered eye on the horizon and when she spotted a small brown blob in the distance she knew it was another ship. Debating with herself for a few moments she finally decided that if she didn't alert the crew then someone else would later an the result would be the same. "Ship ho! 40 leagues west!" she shouted out, and the crew began their preparations to come about.

Roman scrambled down to the deck, taking command of the hoards of men. Ruby chose to stay in the crow's nest for the time being, she had no need to fight men and women who she might had been protecting had she not been kidnapped. The ship came closer and closer and the men raised their merchant flag. Ruby clenched her teeth, their trickery made her sick. When the other ship became close enough that even if they ran away they would not escape the pirates pulled down the merchant flag and raised the Jolly Roger. The canonfire shook the ship and pirates boarded the other ship brandishing cutlasses and guns, as well as some other, more creative weapons. The merchants however were fighting back, guns in their own hands and anger in their eyes. Ruby looked down from her perch to try and spot Roman or the cook or any of her other friends she had made on the ship. However instead of seeing any of them she felt a sharp pain in her back and the sensation of falling. Air whipped past her and she went limp, the fighting continued below her and she got dizzy just looking at it. Blood streamed out of the wound as she fell and she closed her eyes, readying herself to land on the hard deck of the ship. Instead however she felt warm arms enclosed around her and strain against the force of gravity calling her. She looked up and mere seconds before she fainted from blood-loss she saw a certain pirate captain's face.

When Ruby woke up she was once again in Torchwick's cabin. She was confused on whether the events that had transpired the day before really happened or of it was all just a dream. She looked down and discovered her shoulder bandaged, a little red soaked through. She squeaked in surprise when she realized she was in the pajamas Roman had given her. She blushed when she thought about it, someone must have changed her! A knock sounded at the door and the cook entered carrying a tray. "Ah! You're awake, Captain told me to look after you while he organizes repairs. You took quite a fall lassie, have this soup and don'tcha dare try'n get up."

Ruby layed back down and drank the soup, mumbling thank you after she finished it off. The cook was about to leave when Ruby called out, "Wait! Who changed my clothes?"

The cook chuckled, "No need to worry, it were Neo. That there girl disguised herself and was aboard the Ember the whole time. "

Ruby smiled for a first time in a while and said, "Tell her thank you for me."

"Aye, I will. But you best say thanks to the Captain too, he's the one who told her to. And he also were the one who carried who here and saved ya..."

At that moment the Torchwick cleared his voice from where he was leaning against the door, he jerked his head to the cook and the man quickly scurried from the room. Roman then closed and locked the door and sat on the bed, Ruby staring at him the whole time. She looked down and blushed, in a quiet voice she whispered, "Thank you. "

Roman tilted her head up, "What did you say, I didn't hear you."

Ruby mumbled even quieter this time the words of gratitude. However the Captain leaned closer to her, "Say it a little louder," he raised his eyebrows at the blushing girl.

Ruby clenched her teeth, "I said THANK YOU!! Okay!!" she screamed out, then began using some vulgar words she had learned from the pirates when she realized how loud her voice had been.

Torchwick leaned back, "Guess that means you owe me now huh? Plus those idiots should know that only I'm allowed to hurt you."

Ruby tilted her head to the side, wondering what the man meant. She huffed and turned away when she turned back to face him, wondering why he was being so quiet she found that he was gone.

A few weeks passed and Ruby's wound healed. She stopped hating the pirates so much and found that most of them actually had great personalities. Ruby spent a lot more time with the Captain and although he was usually mean or rude to her Ruby found that her heart always beat faster when he was around. For the first week of this strange phenomena Ruby simply attributed her sweaty hands and fast heartbeat to fear. However, after having a somewhat embarrassing conversation with Neo, Ruby realized what it really was. She was falling in love with the pirate captain. After all, when he chose to, Roman was very kind. He also did not try to take advantage of her or do anything echii while she was injured, even though his father had said that those actions were acceptable. And when the time came, when she was completely healed Ruby decided to confess. After all, she had never been the type of person who kept everything bottled up inside. She approached him when he entered the cabin, after he had taken off his hat, coat and gloves.

Ruby looked down shyly, then in a clear voice, not too loud so that the others wouldn't hear her she stated, "Roman, I think I'm falling in love with you."

The man in question raised his eyebrows and grinned, "Really?"

He stalked toward her and pushed her up against the wall. Ruby cowered backward, Roman leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "I think you fell long ago."

Roman then bit her neck and Ruby cried out, and at that moment the door fell in and a hoard of eavesdropping pirates scrabbled to run before their captain killed them. In the midst of the chaos Ruby heard someone say, "You owe me 70 lien."

The End. (for now)


End file.
